Dr Chris Gaffney

Chris has worked in geophysics since 1983, including extensive site-based experience in the UK, Greece and the former Yugoslavia. In 1989, he formed a partnership with John Gater at GSB Prospection. He, too, is an associate editor of the Journal of Archaeological Prospection.

Like John Gater, Athelney was probably his favourite Time Team dig ('a cracker'), but he also remembers Tockenham – the site of a Roman villa in Wiltshire – fondly: 'It was huge. The scale of the results was never really captured on the programme. Everything was really clear, and for once on Time Team, the gradiometry worked well – usually it's only resistance that does, unlike 90% of our other work.' The excavation in Maryland was also memorable: 'It was amazing how the remains of the first brick-built building in Maryland just popped out. This happened on the first morning of the first day, which made the rest of the dig fairly anti-climactic for us but got everyone else off to a running start.'

Chris's ideal site is a monastery: 'Monastic sites conform to certain patterns, and are nice and simple and very clear.' However, he admits that simplicity and clarity are not the words that he would use to describe the geophysics team's experience at Downpatrick!

Chris Gaffney and John Gater were awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Bradford in a ceremony on 21 July 2006 for their distinguished contributions to the field of archaeological geophysics, particularly through the Bradford-based company GSB Prospection and for their long-standing contributions to Time Team.

Chris how now left both GSB Prospection and Time Team and lectures at Bradford University.

Revealing the Buried Past: Geophysics for archaeologists by Chris Gaffney and John Gater (Tempus, 2003) paperback £17.99
Written by two of the foremost experts in the field, this book draws the reader into the world of geophysics. Aimed at the seasoned archaeologist, student, amateur and those who have seen the 'geofizz' techniques used and want to learn a little more, the book is well written, clearly presented and has lots of illustrations and explanatory diagrams. An introduction to the history of geophysics is followed by a lucid discussion of the different techniques available, the methods and equipment used, survey logistics and post-survey analysis. Drawing on their work with Time Team, Gaffney and Gater present a series of case studies from different periods. In conclusion, they consider the future for prospecting for the past and how this powerful surveying tool may be transformed in years to come. Foreword by Mick Aston.
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